This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at for further information. INSKEEP: NPR's Domenico Montanaro, thanks so much.Ĭopyright © 2022 NPR. And, you know, tonight's debate and all of these debates down the stretch in Ohio and other places will be critical because for many viewers, this will be the first and only times they'll be able to hear these candidates outside their filtered ads. MONTANARO: You know, that's really something we've seen in places where candidates are running against the grain. TIM RYAN: But if we have 10 conversations in one day.ĪNDREA ZETTS. Listen to part of this ad with Ryan and his wife, Andrea.

Because of that Democrat, Tim Ryan's using - is trying to appeal to the middle. It shouldn't need to be that way in Ohio for Republicans, a state that's leaned pretty heavily Republican. You know, Ryan had a big lead, and that's now shrunk on the heels of the Senate Leadership Fund, a group tied to Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell spending $52 million in just the last two weeks in some key races to boost Republicans. MONTANARO: Yeah, it's really a great example of a place where Republican ad spending has made a huge difference. Vance for Senate, is instead facing a tough challenge from Tim Ryan, the Democrat. And then there is Ohio, where Republicans were expected to walk. There's a couple of others, like - I don't know - Wisconsin, Georgia, Pennsylvania. Trump was in two of them that you mentioned, Arizona, Nevada. INSKEEP: So there's a handful of states that can decide control of the Senate. Republicans really see an opportunity with Latinos because of that. And the economy really is a main concern in many places, especially in a place like Nevada, which has a high white, working-class population and a lot of working-class Latinos. But Republicans are using crime and the cost of living against Democrats. And Democrats believe highlighting Trump's ties to these Republican candidates and abortion rights can really help them. Republicans would love to make this a referendum on Joe Biden, but Donald Trump keeps saying, Wait. And very often, the president will lose some ground, showing a little bit of dissatisfaction with what's going on. The current president faces a kind of referendum in the midterms. Normally, the former president is off the stage. INSKEEP: I just want to note how unusual it is that Donald Trump is campaigning in this midterm after his election defeat. Trump's far less popular with swing voters, independents, Latinos and Asian American voters, who are all key in both of these purple states. You know, Democrats are playing defense, but how far these Republican candidates have had to go to get Trump's endorsement is a real wild card. Republicans need to net just one seat to take control of the Senate. MONTANARO: Well, these are two of the closest Senate races in the country with Democratic incumbents Catherine Cortez Masto in Nevada and Mark Kelly in Arizona. INSKEEP: OK, So the former president went to Nevada and Arizona. INSKEEP: NPR senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro is covering the midterms. It was the biggest - and they were there largely to protest a corrupt and rigged and stolen election.įADEL: All of that, of course, is not true. Capitol on January 6.ĭONALD TRUMP: Do you know the biggest crowd I've ever seen? January 6. And he praised the size of the crowd that attacked the U.S. He favors Senate candidates there who embraced his false claims about the election he lost. Former President Trump campaigned in Arizona and Nevada over the weekend. And Republicans had hoped to make the election a referendum on President Biden, but his predecessor has pushed to make the election about himself. Democrats are hoping abortion and other issues will limit the losses often suffered by the party in power. But nothing is really predictable with so much on the line. Democrats are favored to keep the Senate. Republicans are considered favorites to capture the House. Throughout this month, Americans are voting in the midterm elections.

Andrea zetts